N.Y. Pushes Vaccines With Mandates and $100, but Stops Short of More Masking

Despite the rising number of Delta variant cases, officials said they were not yet ready to follow federal guidance and require masks indoors.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Wednesday that nearly 130,000 state employees would be required to get vaccinated or face weekly testing, while Mayor Bill de Blasio said New York City would give $100 to those who receive their first doses at city-run vaccination sites — efforts that reflect a growing push to compel or entice holdouts to get vaccinated. But even as they announced the new measures, designed to address rising case counts of the virus and quell the spread of the more contagious Delta variant, both Mr. de Blasio and Mr. Cuomo said they were not yet prepared to adopt federal guidance that vaccinated people wear masks indoors in areas with high coronavirus transmission. “We got it less than 24 hours ago, and it is complicated information,” Mr. de Blasio said of the guidance, issued this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “So our health team is reviewing, and we’ll have more to say on it in the next few days.”